Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Here it is, delivered as promised. This is probably the oldest pack I have ever opened, but there are more in store older than this one.

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:437 Mike Proly (Probably a misspelling of "probably".)403 Lloyd Moseby All Star273 Charlie Puelo (Judging from the picture, this man was definitely one of those unapprehended serial killers from the late '70s/early '80s, most likely the Zodiac Killer.)547 Mike Moore217 Alan Ashby42 Johnny Grubb (Rockin' the glasses...hard.)246 Mets Leaders -- Mookie Wilson and Tom SeaverTopps All-Star Baseball Game Card (With 4 runs.)425 Steve Howe (Corrected version.)93 Bob Knepper (With completely uncreative inset picture.)52 Paul Splittorff302 Barry Bonnell543 Craig McMurtry745 Dennis Eckersley (Still rocking the pretty hair, but nothing at all the caliber of his 1981 style. For more on this, check out the 1981 Topps Showdown at Thorzul Will Rule.)157 Gary Gaetti (Beautiful photography that showcases The Man, The Twin, The Myth, The Gaetti. Big props to Topps for getting shaven and unshaven shots.)494 Chili Davis

Grade: CIt's quite telling that I received no card with a number ending in 0. No stars make for a pretty shady pack. The highlight for me is the Moseby All Star, not for the player himself, but the copy on the back. It reads: "Began as a catcher in Little League and was cut from the team." I find this hard to believe. If Little League gets your money, you're on the team no matter what. I thought a little harder about this and came to the hypothesis that Moseby was not cut because he sucked, but because a teammate tried to stand too far back in the batter's box during BP and he beat the young fellow within an inch of his life. That, or he failed to sell enough candy bars.Oh, and the Steve Howe above might be the corrected version. A few early cases of Topps came with the original printing of the card, now known as the "Noriega Version", which depicts Howe with a mysterious white residue above his upper lip. It's always nice to envision your favorite pitcher hurling the ball from 60 feet, 6 inches away high atop a mound of pure cocaine.